Reacting to the last week's Voice's cover story on violence in the city jails, the correction officers union president, Norman Seabrook, criticized the stewardship of jails commissioner Dora Schriro. In an interview at his downtown Manhattan office, Seabrook says Schriro's leadership is responsible for a rise in the number of his members sent to hospitals with injuries caused by inmates--including 96 officers so far this year--and a decline in morale among officers. He also said she has cut too full story

"If they want to sit down with me and set pattern bargaining, I am willing to do so - if it's in the best interest of the members and their families. If not, I'll wait it out just like everybody else," said Correction Officers Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook. full story

State Supreme Court Judge Manuel J. Mendez has ruled that several COBA dissidents must immediately stop engaging in any discussions with anyone who is claiming to speak on behalf of COBA and from holding any meetings on May 16, 2012 or thereafter. full story

Victor Maldonado Sr. was devastated when his 17-year-old son, Victor Jr., was shot to death in 2007 by a man who believed the teenager was sleeping with his girlfriend. As horrifying as the murder of a child is, Mr. Maldonado’s occupation put him under even greater strain. He is a Correction Captain and was assigned to the Chief’s Office in Riker’s Island when the murder suspect, Paul Colon, was brought to the jail complex. full story

Mayor Bloomberg transformed a routine Executive Budget presentation May 3 into yet another challenge to longstanding collective-bargaining practices when he declared that he would not grant pay raises retroactively and believed whoever succeeded him in 2014 would be in no position to do so either. full story

The city Department of Correction and the Correction Officers Benevolent Association are not always on the same side of the issue, but they were in agreement last week that a claim by the alleged “soccer-mom madam” that she was held in solitary confinement in a T-shirt and diaper was bogus. full story

In response to the allegations made by Soccer Mom Madam that she’s being forced to live in a sweltering, vermin-infested Rikers Island cell, Norman Seabrook, President of the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, issued the following statement, “Correction Officers employ the utmost professionalism while providing for the care, custody, and control of every inmate no matter who the inmate may be and no matter how high of a media profile that inmate may have. full story

The event will take place on Saturday, April 28th , from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hostos Arts Center at Hostos Community College, 500 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY. The day’s program will be hosted by Fox 5 News reporter and Hot 97 “Street Soldiers” host Lisa Evers, and will focus on offering our youth empowerment and alternatives to street violence, giving them the opportunity to make positive connections with our prominent community leaders. full story

“I’m supporting Sen. Adriano Espaillat for Congress because I believe he has the thunder,” said Correction Officers Benovolent Assocation president Norman Seabrook. “He brings an opportunity to be a fresh voice in Washington.” full story

The 15,000-member Correction Officers' Benevolent Association is set to endorse City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and state Sen. Adriano Espaillat in their respective bids for Congress, the Daily Politics has learned. full story

Charges brought by a former member of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association against its president, Norman Seabrook, were dismissed by a huge margin of votes at a special union meeting March 28. full story

First and foremost, I would like to thank each of you for your support and confidence in the COBA Executive Board and myself. full story

Yesterday, thousands of New York City Correction Officers voted overwhelming to completely dismiss a vast array of baseless charges brought against certain members of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association’s (COBA) Executive Board by a former board member who has since been terminated from the New York City Department of Correction. Through thousands of votes casted via proxy and via votes casted by officers present at the meeting, COBA members from all commands and from various years full story

Over the last two years, the Department of Correction has nearly doubled the number of "punitive segregation" cells—the Department's term for solitary confinement—at the jail facilities at Rikers Island. The 44 percent jump, DOC Commissioner Dora Schriro testified at a City Council budget hearing this month, constitutes "the most significant increase in the department's history," one that prisoners rights groups say gives New York City one of the highest solitary confinement rates in the nation. full story

The COBA is offering a $5,000 reward leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for the shooting of Correction Officer Karen Raghunanan. full story

A $5,000 reward will be distributed through the COBA’s Cop-Shot program which was created by President Seabrook to assist with the timely apprehension and prosecution of individuals who have shot New York City Correction Officers as well as Police Officers. Anyone wishing to participate can call the COBA at 212-274-8000. full story

As a member of the New York City Department of Correction for 33 years, the last 24 years as an Assistant Deputy Warden (Warden-Level I), I feel compelled to respond to the disparaging criticisms leveled at Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association President Norman Seabrook. full story

Stringer introduced Norman Seabrook as a recipient for not only for his tireless work as a union leader "but as a man of conscience." full story

One of the latest entries is a radio ad from the New York City Correction Officers Benevolent Association that accuses state and city officials of trying to “eliminate pensions” for public workers. full story

Norman Seabrook, the president of New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, the largest municipal jail union in the country, took Black History Month as an opportunity to remind his audience of both how far minorities have progressed and how much farther they have to go. full story

The four likely mayoral candidates were at the New-York Historical Society on Central Park West last night for Stringer's State of the Borough speech. The speech hinted at the economic theme of Stringer's mayoral campaign: reducing income inequality and making things easier for the middle class. full story

Following in the footsteps of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Stringer called for a middle class tax cut that would lower rates for families making less than $300,000 a year and increasing rates for those earning more than $1 million. full story

Correction Officers Benevolent Association dissident Chandra LaSonde contends that President Norman Seabrook has been impeached and that she is now the acting head of the union. Mr. Seabrook and other union officials don't agree. They say that the Jan. 18 meeting at which the impeachment vote was taken was not called properly under union rules, and that a State Supreme Court judge hearing Ms. LaSonde's lawsuit against the union declared that the gathering was not an official COBA meeting. full story

A Manhattan judge ruled Wednesday that a splinter group must stop pretending to be in charge of the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association. Longtime COBA president Norman Seabrook hailed the decision: “Somebody can say that they are the President of the United States but that doesn’t make it true,” he said. full story

Police investigators likely won’t find the driver who supposedly cut off a prison-bound bus on the New York State Thruway in Rockland County, causing the bus driver to hit a guardrail and overturn with 16 inmates aboard, the state police said Thursday. full story

Officer Peter J. Figoski worked the midnight shift in one of New York’s most dangerous precincts, apprehending robbers in and around East New York, Brooklyn, with the instincts of a 22-year veteran. Then he would go home to Long Island to drive his daughters to school. His life, balanced so purposefully by two passions, shattered in an instant early Monday morning. full story

In his Letter to the Editor (Nov. 28 issue), declared candidate for the COBA Presidency Celestino Monclova takes issue with a number of actions the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association has taken to benefit each and every single Correction Officer in this city. While Mr. Monclova has desperately attempted to mislead the membership through a series of false accusations, I’ll take this opportunity to set the record straight. full story

The city's Department of Correction is significantly increasing the number of its solitary confinement units. Currently, it has 862 so-called "punitive segregation cells." By the end of next month, it will have just under a thousand, according to DOC Commissioner Dora Schriro. full story

Committee chair Elizabeth Crowley, using figures that appeared to have been prepared by the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, asked why the punitive-segregation units, known as The Bing, have a waiting list of 922 prisoners. full story

As you know, Thanksgiving is a day set aside every third Thursday in the month of November to reflect on and show appreciation for the blessings of the year. full story

In the past four months, 85 officers were rushed to the hospital after inmate assaults. Department officials maintain that many of these cases involved minor injuries. Only 14 were ultimately labeled serious assaults, resulting in broken bones or major wounds, officials testified Nov. 17. full story

Correction Officer James La suffered a vicious punch in the jaw from an inmate on Rikers Island who should have been punished and isolated for a previous incident. Officer Rodney Brown's thumb was bitten off by a jail inmate, and there is video of an inmate assaulting yet another officer with a broomstick in September. Those inmates were all supposed to be separated, not in general population, it's known as owing time in the box. full story

Last year I sat before this committee and provided a detailed overview of the jail violence that continues to escalate throughout the Department, jeopardizing the lives of Correction Officers as well as the inmates. In spite of the warnings issued by the COBA, the Commissioner of the Department, though her misguided management practices, has contributed to the perilous conditions confronting every uniformed member of this Department. full story

On Tuesday November 8th and Wednesday November 9th, the COBA executive board along with delegates and you the COBA member, took a stand against post cuts, against the increase in use of force incidents, against assaults on staff and against abusive disciplinary practices. This is not the end, this is just the beginning. While some may say these actions should have occurred sooner, we say timing is everything! full story

How many more civilians will be hired at DOC at $100K plus while we're cut to the bone? The next officer that gets assaulted could be you. full story

​The union representing correction officers today blasted Correction Commissioner Dora Schriro's management of the city's jail system. full story

Since January, when COBA led the charge of united public and private sector union members and middle class New Yorkers, through a bold media campaign and a massive rally held at City Hall Park, the union has vigorously fought back against the attack on our wages, pensions, benefits and our quality of life. full story

Norman Seabrook, president of the New York City Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, advocated an automatic seven-year sentence for anyone caught with illegal firearms. “It is time for us to change the laws to make these young men accountable,” he said at the press conference. full story